Linking transaction cards with spending accounts

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method to facilitate a purchase utilizing a flexible spending account, comprising the steps of: receiving, at a host computer, a request for payment authorization for an item; determining whether the item qualifies for pre-tax treatment; and when the item qualifies for pre-tax treatment: determining at least partial payment authorization for the item, transmitting the at least partial payment authorization for the item to a point of sale device; causing the flexible spending account to be debited for at least a portion of the purchasing amount of the item based on the payment authorization; and debiting a non-flexible spending account for an item not qualifying for pre-tax treatment.

1. An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a memory storing instructions, execution of which by a computing device causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 linking an existing card, associated with a non tax-advantaged account of a cardholder, to a Health Savings Account (HSA) of the cardholder; 
 receiving a request, initiated by a use of the card, for payment authorization for a purchase of a plurality of items, at least one of which qualifies for pre-tax treatment and at least one other of which does not qualify for pre-tax treatment, 
 authorizing payment for the purchase, 
 transmitting a payment authorization to a point of sale device, 
 causing the HSA to be debited for at least a first portion of a first purchase amount of the at least one item that qualifies for pre-tax treatment, and 
 causing the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for at least a second portion of a second purchase amount of the at least one item that does not qualify for pre-tax treatment. 
 
 
     
     
       2. An apparatus comprising:
 means for linking an existing card, associated with a non tax-advantaged account of a cardholder, to a Health Savings Account (HSA) of the cardholder; 
 means for receiving a request, initiated by a use of the card,  for payment authorization for a purchase of one or more items; 
 means for determining whether one or more of said items qualifies for pre-tax treatment; 
 means for determining at least partial payment authorization for said qualifying item, transmitting said at least partial payment authorization for said qualifying item to a point of sale device, and causing the HSA to be debited for at least a portion of the purchasing amount of said qualifying item based on said payment authorization in response to a first determination that at least one of said items qualifies for pre-tax treatment; and 
 means for causing the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for said non-qualifying item in response to a second determination that at least one of said items does not qualify for pre-tax treatment. 
 
     
     
       3. A method comprising:
 linking an existing card, associated with a non tax-advantaged account of a cardholder, to a Health Savings Account (HSA) of the cardholder; 
 receiving, using a computing device, a request, initiated by a use of the card, for payment authorization for an item charge; 
 determining, using the computing device, whether the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment; 
 causing, using the computing device, the HSA to be debited for the item charge in response to a first determination that the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment; and 
 causing, using the computing device, the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for the item charge in response to a second determination that the item charge does not qualify for pre-tax treatment. 
 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the determining whether the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment comprises at least one of:
 determining whether the transaction instrument is associated with the HSA; 
 determining whether the FSA contains sufficient funds to cover the item charge; or 
 determining whether the merchant satisfies the requirements necessary to permit funds for the purchase to be drawn from the HSA. 
 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the determining whether the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment comprises determining whether the item charge satisfies Internal Revenue Service Guidelines. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the item charge is associated with a plurality of items to be charged, and wherein the method further comprises:
 determining whether any of the plurality of items does not satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines; 
 separating out items that do not satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines; 
 causing the HSA to be debited for a charge of an item or items that satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines; and 
 causing the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for a charge of an item or items not satisfying Internal Revenue Service Guidelines. 
 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the item charge is associated with a plurality of items to be charged, and wherein the method further comprises:
 determining whether any of the plurality of items to be charged is not eligible to be charged to the HSA; 
 separating out items not eligible to be charged to the HSA; 
 causing the HSA to be debited for a charge of an item or items eligible to be charged to the HSA; and 
 causing the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for a charge of an item or items not eligible to be charged to the HSA. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the card is a credit card. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the card is owed by the cardholder prior to an opening of the HSA by the cardholder. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the card is a debit card. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 3 , wherein linking the card to the HSA enables usage of the card for HSA expenses, thereby creating a virtual HSA within the non tax- advantaged account. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising linking functionality associated with the HSA to the non tax-advantaged account. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the transaction instrument is at least one of:
 an open or closed charge card, 
 a stored value card, or 
 an RFID chip based card or token. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 3 , wherein causing the HSA to be debited further comprises submitting a receipt for the item charge to a third party administrator in response to a third determination that the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment, wherein the third party administrator charges the item charge to the HSA, and wherein the third party administrator determines whether substantiation of a portion of the item charge is necessary. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the third party administrator notifies the cardholder and charges the non tax-advantaged account in response to a determination that substantiation of the portion of the item charge is necessary. 
     
     
       16. An article of manufacture including a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, an execution of which by a computing device causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 linking an existing card, associated with a non-tax advantaged account of a cardholder, to a Health Savings Account (HSA) of the cardholder; 
 receiving, using the computing device, a request, initiated by a use of the card, for payment authorization for an item charge; 
 determining, using the computing device, whether the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment; 
 causing, using the computing device, the HSA to be debited for the item charge in response to a first determination that the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment; and 
 causing, using the computing device, the non-tax advantaged account to be debited for the item charge in response to a second determination that the item charge does not qualify for pre-tax treatment. 
 
     
     
       17. The article of manufacture according to  claim 16 , wherein the determining whether the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment comprises at least one of:
 determining whether the transaction instrument is associated with the HSA; 
 determining whether the HSA contains sufficient funds to cover the charge for the purchase; and 
 determining whether the merchant satisfies the requirements necessary to permit funds for the purchase to be drawn from the HSA. 
 
     
     
       18. The article of manufacture according to  claim 16 , wherein the determining whether the item charge qualifies for pre-tax treatment comprises:
 determining whether the item charge satisfies Internal Revenue Service Guidelines. 
 
     
     
       19. The article of manufacture according to  claim 18 , wherein the item charge comprises a plurality of items to be charged, and wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining whether any of the plurality of items does not satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines; 
 separating out items that do not satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines; 
 causing the HSA to be debited for a charge of an item or items that satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines; and 
 causing the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for charge of the item or items that do not satisfy Internal Revenue Service Guidelines. 
 
     
     
       20. The article of manufacture according to  claim 16 , wherein the item charge is associated with a plurality of items to be charged, and wherein the operations further comprise:
 whether any of the plurality of items to be charged is not eligible to be charged to the HSA; 
 separating out items that are not eligible to be charged to the HSA; 
 causing the HSA to be debited for a charge of an item or items that are eligible to be charged to the HSA; and 
 causing the non tax-advantaged account to be debited for a charge of an item or items that are not eligible to be charged to the HSA.